Inter-Neighborhood Council, Durham, NC: Minutes 2/99

Minutes, Feb. 99

Minutes of INC Meeting on February 23, 1999.
Approved March 23, 1999.

Attendees

Opening

           Speakers

           Reports

           Business

           Announcements

Closing

Attendees

Neighborhood representatives: Cross Country—Pat Carstensen, Ed Harrison
Duke Homestead—Al Stone
Fern Valley, CAUSE—Pat Bocckino
Grove Park—Rosemarie Kitchin
Hope Valley—Norm Krause
Morehead Hill—Anne Guyton
Old North Durham—Ann Sundberg
Trinity Park—Harry Dawley
Tuscaloosa Lakewood —Phillip Porter
Watts Hospital-Hillandale—Mike McKinney
Visitors: Terry Roland, Tommy Esqueda, Inga Kennedy-Tucker,
& Lloyd Hathcock, Durham Environmental Resources

Dan Kane, News & Observer

Opening

Mike Shiflett called the meeting to order at 7:00. The minutes of the February meeting were approved without change.

Speakers

Terry Roland Director, Durham Environmental Resources

Terry Roland, Director of Environmental Resources, explained that the department is developing a strategic plan. In response to a question, he explained that Durham City divides functions relating to water and sewer utilities among four departments:

Mechanical parts of the system, like sewage treatment plants, pumping, etc., are handled by his department.
Non-mechanical parts of the system, like sewage pipes and water mains, and handled by Public Works.
The Finance Department handles billing and reading water meters.
The Budget Department handles the budget.

Terry Roland, Tommy Esqueda, Inga Kennedy-Tucker, and Lloyd Hathcock fielded questions:

The technology to allow water meters to be read remotely is still too expensive.
About 25% of all treated water isn’t accounted for. Terry Roland observed that this number is too high. It should be running around 10-15%, as it has in the past and does in other systems. He isn’t sure the number is accurate—it may be an artifact of faulty accounting. He said he doesn’t think there is big leak somewhere. He added that there is a similar problem accounting for water at the other end. Treatment plants are getting more water than they should be getting.
Water is expensive in Durham for two reasons. We have to build dams (Lake Michie and Kerr Lake) when we need water, because we can’t pull it from a river. On the output end, Durham is on a divide between the Neuse and the Haw river basins but is some distance from each. We must therefore discharge our used water into small streams, which means we must treat it thoroughly first. We must have at least two treatment facilities—one for the Neuse side and the other for the Haw. Because of this necessity, Durham has pioneered in waste water treatment since the 1930s.
The Durham water system dates from 1887. Some older neighborhoods are using pipes that date from the early 1900s.
The most expensive part of the water system isn’t the treatment plants; it’s the pipes in the ground.
The department is looking for uses of treated water. This water isn’t quite good enough to drink, but it is suitable for other uses such as watering, initially perhaps at a golf course.

Reports

County Commissioners: No reports.
City Council: No reports.

Business

: Ed Harrison reported that the Durham Zoning Committee passed, by a vote of 6 to 1, a proposal to rezone for office development a tract of 530,000 square feet near New Hope Creek, a site currently occupied by Leigh Farm Park and an 18th century farmhouse.

Ed pointed out that this property is larger than New Hope Commons (480,000 square feet) and that there is only one way in and out of it. The vote ignored the recommendation of the Durham Planning staff that the request be rejected.

The group passed a motion by Mike McKinney that Mike Shiflett draft a letter stating that INC supports the Planning Commission’s judgement in opposing the development.

: Mike Shiflett reported on a project for neighborhoods to come and hear representatives from different city agencies interested in working with neighborhoods. The date is not set yet, but may be some time in September.

Announcements

No announcements.

Closing

The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 PM.

© Copyright 1999 by the Inter-Neighborhood Council of Durham, NC, USA.

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